Former boss of Uber Europe threatened by taxi drivers

Mark MacGann, the former Director of Uber Europe, has made a complaint against three taxi drivers.

They wanted to prevent him from getting into a vehicle at the Brussels Midi train station on Tuesday afternoon. This is reported by RTBF and L'Echo.

MacGann posted on Twitter, “I am now being illegally held up by taxi drivers at the Gare du Midi.” Gathered around the Uber vehicle, the taxi drivers started to hit the windows, threatening Mr MacGann. The latter called the police who intervened to dissipate the group of taxi drivers.

Mr MacGann has made a complaint for being held against his will, wilful hindrance of traffic and being threatened. L'Echo reports that the three drivers who caused the altercation were reported to the police.

The three taxi drivers were taken in by the police to verify their identity. However, at no time was the man held against his will. This was stated by Dorothée Cattrysse, the spokeswoman of the police zone, quoted by RTBF.

The website stated that the taxi drivers were wishing to protest against the presence of Uber vehicles close to Brussels Midi, angry that such vehicles do not display the distinctive sticker that ordinary taxis with a driver normally do in Brussels. RTBF further reports that taxi drivers see this as unfair competition. It suggests that the drivers possibly wanted the local police to be called to the scene so as to find that an offence had been committed.

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